The Infinity Saga
by grey280
Summary: Superhumans, a messed up timeline, and heck, I'll probably even throw in some kind of evil conspiracy. Because everyone needs an evil conspiracy in the background.
1. 1:1: Powers

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter One:

Powers

**Some information: I have been working on this fanfiction in my head for a long time, and just now got around to the hardest part: writing it down. **

**This takes place in the Marvel universe, so you might see, say, Spider-Man and Iron Man working together to beat the living tar out of some weirdo mutant dude, that sort of thing. It is a bit more like the movies though. The X-Men part is set in the movie-verse with the rest of the Marvel Universe added to it, around the time of the first movie. Probably between movies 1 and 2. Although with the way I'm planning this in my head, it'll look like the cutting-room was attacked by an angry gorilla with a blender. **

"Max? Max, where are you? This isn't funny!" Max laughed at the guard, and continued running down the hallway. Then the radio that was attached to his belt crackled.

"You know you aren't supposed to taunt the guards like that. Come on, give him a chance. You're getting the entire workforce fired!"

"No way, Kent, why do you even bother asking?" he laughed again, this time at his bodyguard's tone of voice, then turned into one of the side passages.

The guard turned around the corner after him. "There you are! GET BACK HERE!" he yelled. Max ignored him and continued running.

Then he skidded sideways to a halt, and started running along one of the passages that ran along the outside of the White House.

*

In a secure room, approximately three hundred feet below the Pentagon, an alarm started to blare.

*

In the white house security room, the same alarm went off.

"**-censored-**!" yelled one of the guards. Another guard, a bodyguard actually, grabbed a radio and began to run, shouting into the device at the same time.

"MAX! Get out of there NOW!!!" said Kent through the radio. "Wh-" he began to ask, then just stood still, a confused look on his face. Sparks of lightning flickered around him for a moment, and he collapsed. The guard who had been chasing him rounded the corner just in time to see this, and immediately radioed Kent and the security center.

Kent rounded the corner just in time to see the outside wall next to Max rip itself apart. The guard, who was frightened, but trained for this kind of situation, tried to reach out and grab Max, to move him to safety. Instead, he was slammed into the ceiling, spun rapidly around, and then launched outwards through the hole in the wall.

Kent ran up to Max, and was pushed back by an invisible force. He ground his teeth, and shoved his hand through it, then grabbed Max. He turned to run, but as he moved, the wall alongside him was torn apart, so he simply sat down, still holding Max, and pulled out a Class-4 Experimental Weapon 774X-A. (which translates into mini laser canon, the results of an experiment to see if you could make a weapon usable with one hand, portable, and capable of blowing up a car. **Oh what fun the fictional government has.**)

About five minutes later, a report came in from the guards that they had found Magneto, unconscious outside on the grounds. They quickly moved him to a secure cell, then a specially configured plastic cell. That was done within ten minutes.

Kent was still sitting there, when, after about five minutes, Max coughed, and began to wake up. Kent helped him sit up.

"Are you okay, Max?" he asked, concern in his voice. Max coughed again. "I think so... I feel like I tried to eat a lightning bolt... Ugh," He coughed again. Then he saw Kent's weapon. "What's THAT?" he asked. Kent winked at him and said, "ever been to Area 51?"

Max stared at it, then looked at Kent. "Right," he said, rolling his eyes. Kent just put it in his holster, laughter in his eyes. "Now come on, we have to get you dressed up to go to New York!" Max looked at him, surprised. "Why?" "You have a meeting with some journalist, or something like that. Name was... uh... something with a... letter. Yes, it definitely had a letter in it." Max laughed. He reached down, and helped Max stand up.

"So, I faint, and don't even need to be sent to the doctor? It's just, 'okay, well, you're not dead, carry on then,'" Max said. Kent rolled his eyes. "The way things are around here, it would be more like 'okay, well, you haven't been dead for more than a week, carry on then.' Your dad could be dead and they would still make him attend meetings. Especially when something happens."

End Chapter One

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**Also, if I say something like 'Next Chapter will be in -insert other Marvel comic name here-', it means it will be the next part in the series will be where I said it would be. It means that is the end of that part of the series.**

**Next chapter will, temporarily, be in New York, with Spider-Man and Peter Parker.**


	2. 1:2: New York

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Two:

New York

**Originally, this chapter was just a fun little interlude, but I've made it more important to the story now.**

**Apologies for any incorrectness about locations, but I spent half an hour looking up the name of a nearby air force base. So that's correct. But, living in a world of my own making, I've never been to the **_**real**_** New York City.**

**Once you Earthlings make it to Mars, I'll invite you to my universe...**

"Hello, there, Mr. Parker. I believe I'm supposed to be giving an interview today?" Max asked.

"Yup, and thank you very much for that. I think. I'm a photographer, but they drafted me to work as an interviewer."

Max sat at the restaurant table with Peter Parker.

"So how are things in the White House?"

"Normal... If you live in the White House. Otherwise, 'AAAGH!'" Peter grinned.

"Does that mean something bad is going on?"

"Well, if you look hard enough, there's always something bad going on, but the scale's always different. Fortunately the high-up stuff doesn't happen much. And no, none of the big stuff is going on right now."

"Well, that's good to know."

"Hey, fun fact. If the number of pizza orders in the White House or the Pentagon increases rapidly, there will be a national news update within the next twenty-four hours."

"Really? I didn't know that. Makes sense, though..."

"We're trying to eliminate speciesism, but I haven't got much information on that."

"Why not?"

"Well, _I'm _not the President, so I don't get the reports and stuff. I'm pretty thankful for that, actually. Those people that think I'm running for president when I'm old enough- dead wrong. There's too much paperwork!" He grinned.

Peter feigned a sigh of relief. "Well, that sets _my_ heart to rest!" He laughed.

***

Twenty minutes of interviewing later, Peter and Max were grinning.

"Man, I didn't know what I was missing out on! Interviewing is pretty fun," Peter said.

"Nope, it's all me," replied Max. "Actually, that's pretty true. It really depends on who you're interviewin-"

There was a crash and a piercing scream from down the street. Peter jumped up and spun to see- it had come from behind him. Max's eyes were wide, and Peter saw why. Rhino going on a rampage, tearing a car in two.

Peter ran for cover.Moments later, Spider-Man leapt towards Rhino.

"Huunh?" went Rhino. He turned, saw Spider-Man, and swung the car at him. _Wham!_ Max winced, and pulled out his cellphone. He tapped one icon on it (it appeared to be an extra-thick iPhone). He spoke into the phone.

"Rogue... uh, mutant, I think, just down the street from where I am."

"Right. Dustoff momentarily, someone in the area in around two minutes.," came the reply.

*

At Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome, New York, two helicopters lift off as one fighter jet screams down the runway.

*

Spider-Man and Rhino were fighting ferociously at the end of the street. A car flew in Max's direction, glanced off the side of a building across the street, and plowed through the modernist side of the restaurant building, whose building materials appeared to be stainless steel pipe, and glass. The car exploded, and any intact windows in the building turned white and shattered. The stairs, made of glass, vaporized.

Max stood up from under the table umbrella that he had pulled over himself when the windows blew out. It had protected him from falling shards of glass, but - he started to run - it wouldn't protect him from falling (_Crunch! BOOM!_) cars!

Max reached the end of the street and turned. Spider-Man was wrapping Rhino in web. It looked...

Ineffective. Rhino burst out of the cocoon and swung another car at Spider-Man. _Wham!_ Max winced again. That _had_ to hurt.

A patrol car pulled up, one tire on the sidewalk, on the other side of the street. Two policemen got out, pulled out their guns, and started shooting.

_Ping_

A bullet bounced off of the car Rhino was holding. Max flinched, looked up-

-into what appeared to be a floating, molecule-thick metal plate, about an inch from his face. He touched it, and immediately pulled his finger back- it was burning hot. _Ping _Another bullet.

_I thought slow-motion only happened in the movies. Must be an adrenaline-surge thing..._ Max thought, seeing the bullet fly towards him spinning lazily. **Why are they always spinning 'lazily'? Why not 'slothily'?** _Unfortunately, I appear to be in slow-mo, too. Well, crud._ He closed his eyes right before the bullet reached him.

_Wow, I didn't feel a thing! Or I did, but I forgot about it. Or am I even dead? Okay, _that_ was a very disturbing and morbid thought to think._

He opened his eyes. There was another floating metal plate in front of him.

"Oh," he said. And then, "I think I'm in shock." He shuddered, and both metal 'plates' fell to the ground. "On the bright side, I can stop bullets. On the... not-sure-which side, I'm a mutant. Oh, Senator Kelly will _love_ this."

_Whooooooooooooooooosh-_

_BOOOM! _

"On the bright side, here's the cavalry," said Max.Rhino looked at the inch-thick shard of metal that had been, moments before, a car. He threw it at the space in the sky where the jet had been.

Spider-Man was on the side of a building. Rhino picked up another car and threw it at him. Spidey shot webs at it, leapt off the side of the building, and somehow spun the car so that it landed, absurdly, in a parked position in the middle of the street. The jet flew by again, and fired a net at Rhino. It was almost as effective as a piece of string versus, say, a cruise missile. That's to say, it did nothing. Well, it hit Rhino, but he shredded it.

A helicopter slid out from behind a building, fired two missiles, and immediately dropped back behind the building. The missiles corkscrewed towards Rhino. They never hit him; he threw a car (one of those tiny smart cars) at one and slapped the other out of the air. Spider-Man was still clinging to the side of the building, trying to figure out what to do next. Max looked around and realized that he was the only person still on the street. "Oops." He ducked behind a pile of rubble that he hadn't noticed being created.

A second helicopter rose over the top of a shorter building and began firing it's machine gun as the first came out of hiding and fired two more missiles.

Rhino turned towards the machine-gunning helicopter, not noticing the missiles. He roared at it, went to throw something at it, and was blown over sideways by the two missiles hitting simultaneously. While he was reeling from the blast, Spider-Man began to wrap him in webbing. The fighter jet screamed by for a third pass and fired two more nets. These, combined with the web, apparently worked. Spider-Man swung away.

***

Skip forward to around a day later.

Max was in his room, reading. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he called.

His dad stepped in the door.

"What's up?" Max asked.

"I think you know."

"That's not the diplomatic way to point out the elephant in the room. Even if it is a mutant."

Insert one awkward father-son conversation here.

***

Insert planning here.

***

End chapter two.

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**Next chapter we head out to the Xavier Institute, and meet some new characters.**

**See y'all next time!**


	3. 1:3: The Xavier Institue

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Three:

The Xavier Institute

**So glad to be done with that writer's block... It only took me a YEAR.**

**Sorry.**

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children."

Although perhaps fewer capital letters were used.

**To cheatingly avoid further writer's block:**

*

Insert discussions, paperwork, and other boring things here.

***

Day One.

Here's hoping it goes well.

Max climbed out of the black SUV into the grassy... pavilion? That sounded right. Pavilion. Other students, he supposed, were running everywhere. Chaos reigned.

Kent got out of the driver's seat and helped him get his bags out of the trunk.

"Keep your phone charged, don't forget laundry, and remember that I can be out here in ten minutes if you need me. Oh, and your dad says he loves you."

"Thanks, Kent." Max gave his bodyguard a hug.

***

Skip forward enough time to unpack, and get settled in.

The room Max was put in was for two, but the other bed appeared un-taken.

He left his room and began wandering the halls of the mansion (_or would it be closer to castle?_ he wondered) that held the school. The hallways were oddly quiet, but as he reached the entryway, more noise began to make itself apparent. Mainly, the door opening. Max walked down the stairs to see who was arriving late.

A boy walked in with a man who was likely his father; they looked quite alike. Tan skin, blonde hair, blue eyes. The man spoke to his son quietly, they hugged, and the man left.

"Hello!" called Max. He was at the top of the stairway to the lower level. The boy looked up at him.

"Hi!" Max walked down the stairs to meet him.

"I guess I'm a bit late," said the boy.

"You are, but I don't think anyone'll care too much. I'm pretty sure the headmaster is psychic. Which makes the term 'headmaster' have a whole new meaning..." He grinned.

The boy stuck out a hand. "I'm Cobalt, because my parents _thought_ they were poetic."

"Max." They shook hands. "Maximillian, actually, but I think it makes me sound like a snotty rich kid or something. Do you know what room you've got?"

Cobalt consulted a paper. "321? Sounds like a hotel."

"It would've been almost too convenient if you'd been in the same room as me. I'm 322. Pretty sure you're right across the hall."

Max led Cobalt to his room, which was indeed directly across the hall from Max's own room. It appeared that neither of them had roommates.

"This is a school for mutants, so... what's your power?" asked Cobalt.

"Diplomacy!" answered Max. "Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure. It can sure stop a bullet, though." He pantomimed a bullet being flattened against an invisible shield. "How about you?"

"I've got... wings."

"Really? Cool!"

"You think?" Cobalt asked. He seemed suddenly shy.

"Yeah. Flying is, like, _the_ human dream, isn't it? You've _got_ that!"

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

"How had you thought of it?"

"I guess I... hadn't. My dad's got wings, too, it's pretty obvious where I get them from. And I lived separate from... well, everyone. We lived out in the middle of a desert. You get a great tan, but not much social interaction."

"I'm the opposite, I think. Too much socializing for the wrong reasons, not enough relaxing." He held up an arm. Compared to Cobalt's tan skin **(would 'bronzed' be a good word here?)**, his own looked pale.

"'For the wrong reasons'?"

"My dad's... a politician. People figure that I can get him to do things for them."

"That sucks. My dad's a businessman. With politics, you have to be in the public eye. If you're a businessman, you can just go live in a desert, and everyone'll just call you a 'recluse' and 'eccentric.'"

A distant bell rang. Not a school bell, it sounded more like a church bell.

"I think that's dinner," said Max.

"Good. I'm starving. My dad says I have an accelerated metabolism."

"Translation: eat more, heal fast."

"Pretty much."

They continued talking as they searched their way through the many hallways of the school. After nearly ten minutes, they worked their way to what appeared to be the cafeteria. There was a kitchen closer to one that would be found in a normal home in each of the dormitory wings (of which there were three) that could be used by students for snacks, but there was also a main kitchen and cafeteria that would serve the main meals.

By the end of the day, Max and Cobalt were fast friends. It's always good to know someone at school.

End chapter three.

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**Well, thanks for reading! I'll have more soon, now that I'm kinda on a roll.**

**We'll be staying at the Institute for a while.**


	4. 1:4: School Days

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Four:

School Days

**I'm on a roll! Which doesn't look like it to you, since I'm keeping stuff hidden and releasing it on a time-basis...**

**But, whatever.**

It was warm and sunny out, and many students were outside.

"How'd you do on the math test?" Max asked.

"Meh. Could've been better. I bet I got a B," replied Cobalt.

"Hey guys!" They looked over at the source of this shout: a figure madly waving his arms and jumping up and down. They stood up and walked over to him.

It was Andrew, standing next to Damon, who was sitting on the side of a stone fountain. It was one of those large ones that looks like it should have, by all rights, lily pads in it. However, this one only had moss on the stones.

"What's up?" asked Cobalt.

"Check this out!" Andrew proceed to press a button on the small metallic device he wore at his waist - it emitted a low beep, and then a spark of electricity jumped out. It glowed electric blue as it wound it's way down his arm, to the tip of his fingers, and then suddenly leapt into the fountain. A fish jumped from the bottom basin into the stream of water coming out of the center, and was launched out of the pool. Andrew frowned. "It didn't go _that_ far last time."

"That's great."

Max lightly punched Damon. "Be nice."

"Well, he's zapping fish for no good reason. _We're right back in the water._**{1}**" The last words were sung out, to some bad hip-hop tune. The fish appeared over the pool with a pop, and dropped back in.

"What is that little thing, anyways?" asked Cobalt.

"That? The professor gave it to me. It's a 'static regulator', and he said that it'll keep me from zapping stuff."

"Like the static electricity that you get from walking around on carpet?"

Andrew indicated the pool, and the fish. "A little bit more than that."

"So it keeps you from electrocuting people and stuff into the stratosphere?"

"Pretty much."

"No interested questions or anything for me, of course," said Damon.

"Stop being so depressing," said Andrew, making a face.

"How do you know words to a song that'll fit the situation?"

"If I hear a song, I remember it. All of it. So I have like a whole database of music in my head, full of words with tunes that I can use to make stuff happen."

"That's pretty cool. Sorta limiting, but sorta not."

"Eh, I get by."

***

"Now class, will be our first session in the Danger Room."

Excited and nervous murmuring emanated from the class.

"Relax, we'll be starting on level one, and I'll be working with you."

A student who had arrived earlier in the year due to unforeseen circumstances of a mission turned to Max. "This isn't like Wolverine... I bet Professor X talked to him to make him be nice to the students. Or maybe we're just gonna get 'accidentally' set on Level 11. I'm Kitty. What's your name?"

"Max. Let's hope he's hypnotized or something... I don't wanna get killed by a room."

"Right, class, let's get started." The surprisingly un-gruff Canadian opened the doors to the battle simulator. The students walked in. The doors closed. The students milled around for a moment.

The students noticed that the teacher was not in the room with them.

"Oh, great," mumbled Kitty.

"I may have lied a _little_ bit," said Wolverine, via a hidden speaker.

Hidden machines made small noises as they started.

The room went dark.

A small scream from one student, slowly petering out. "**AAAAA**AAAAAaaaa..."

The room lit up.

The walls bristled with weapons, from missile launchers to what looked like a laser turret to a robotic arm with a saw blade.

"Oh my," said another student.

The saw blade slowly began to spin.

"Try not to die," said Wolverine.

"Everyone, start blowing stuff up!" called Max. Heeding his own advice, he concentrated, and waved a hand at the now rapidly-spinning blade. The arm holding it shook, but did nothing beyond that for a moment. Then it seemed to give up resistance, and allowed itself to be dragged along into one of the wall-mounted cannons.

The cannon exploded.

Chaos broke out.

The inside of the room looked like a light show, lasers flashing everywhere. Students that were hit by the weapons, instead of being killed, were knocked to the ground, and then vanished, reappearing outside of the Danger Room in a locked chamber.

Cobalt sprinted up the side of room and did a backwards flip off the wall onto the top of one of the cannons. He held on with his legs as he searched for a weak point on it's casing.

Andrew pressed buttons on his static regulator. A jolt of lightning came out of it, and began spinning around his arm and hand. A pained look came over his face, but he began to throw blasts of lightning at the different weapons.

"_Boom boom boom_,**{2}**" sang Damon. Three machines exploded in front of him.

Kitty jumped through a second saw blade, solidifying her hand around part of the upper casing. It twisted and broke off as she sank part way into the floor, instinctively ducking under the now-uncontrolled blade.

Max threw out a second hand and managed to 'catch' the blade, stopping it's motion, before dropping it again, and the first blade. He fell to his knees and clutched at his head. **The standard, 'I just overloaded my powers, oh my poor melting brain' pose.**

One by one, the students were defeated by the machines. Damon by a third saw. Andrew, a shot by a turret from behind. Cobalt, a hidden mine. Max, more an execution as he knelt, helpless, where he had stood. Kitty was the last one fighting. Her ability to phase through the saw blades kept her 'alive' for two minutes (though it seemed like more) longer than anyone else, before a coordinated attack by all the turrets made it impossible to dodge.

***

"That was unfair," complained Damon.

"Look on the bright side - I think you might've done the most damage of anyone," Max replied.

"I bet it was you with your saw," Damon countered.

Cobalt joined the conversation with, "I know it wasn't me, but my money's on Andrew - lightning blasts of death!"

"I think it was Kitty," was the reply.

"I heard my name," she said, sitting down at their lunch table.

"We were talking about the Danger Room Fiasco," said Damon, dropping capital letters into place effortlessly.

"Fiasco? Well, yeah, it kinda was. So, what were you talking about me for?"

"I nominated you for Most Destruction," said Andrew.

"It wasn't me. I only got the two saws. I'd say it was you - you're pretty good with a lightning bolt. Say, you'd make a good Zeus in a school play if we ever do one."

He smiled. "Thanks, but I don't like using that much lightning. It kinda hurts."

"Is that another reason for the regulator-thing?" asked Cobalt.

"Probably."

The conversation continued for most of the lunch period, branching out to topics that would confuse many people - leaping from the school food to squirrels in one sentence. **I've actually had this conversation.**

And with that, Kitty was accepted into the group of friends.

End chapter four.

* * *

**{1} Right Back in the Water by Jesse McCartney, but that's only because it was the first thing that showed up in a lyrics search.**

**{2} Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas, but you already knew that.**

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**Well, thanks for reading! I'll have more soon, now that I'm kinda on a roll.**

**We'll be staying at the Institute for a while.**

**And sorry for that really corny last line. I was trying to wind down the chapter...**


	5. 0:1: Randomness

The Infinity Saga

Part ???:

Break Time!

Chapter One:

In Which We Stop For Randomness

**This is me saying sorry for the tiny update, missing my update, and whatnot. I was really busy yesterday. And I've got stopped on chapter five, but I'll get that done right now.**

**Oh, just so you know, anything in Part: ??? is written ahead of time unless I say something about 'throwing this together in two and a half minutes' or whatnot.**

"Welcome to the Dimension of Pain!"

"What?"

"I said, WEL-COME TO THE DIE-MEN-SHUN OF PAY-NUH!"

"Seriously?" Max frowned at the red-colored demon. "Somehow I think that wasn't the textbook I was supposed to be using for Geometry."

The demon paused, confused. "Wait, what? Jom-et-tree?"

"You know, like shapes and stuff? But, in ways that make you sound really smart? Yeah, that's geometry."

The demon scratched it's head. "You're making my brain hurt."

"Well then, I'll just be leaving."

"Sure, the doorway's right behind you."

Max stepped through the doorway, which closed behind him, and out of the Dimension of Pain. Back in the library, he hurriedly put the textbook back on the shelf.

*

"You let _another_ one get away?!?"

"He was confusing me!"

End chapter 1.

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**If you're confused by this being chapter one, notice that it's part of a different 'part' of the story. The ??? part of the story are my little 'break' chapters.**

**That was kinda fun, and a good little break time for me. I'll probably go on hiatus more often...**

**Don't worry, I won't ditch you guys, my faithful readers!**

**Oh, and the red demon is Reakk, whereas the one yelling at him is Lord Horribus. Bonus points if you tell me what they're from!**


	6. 0:2: Lollollop

The Infinity Saga

Part ???:

Break Time!

Chapter Two:

Lollollop

**Apologies for how short this is, but the fact that I'm posting this means that I'm writing something big, or on vacation. Whichever. I write these ahead of time. This is non-canon.**

**Note: Sorry about two of these in a row, but my schedule looks like, I dunno, a monkey in a blender? Something like that. It's our freak-out-time, and I've got no time to spare for writing...**

Max and Cobalt were sitting outside by the fountain **(see chapter, what, 3? 4? Bonus points if you can tell me what chapter this first shows up in.)**.

A pigeon landed next to them.

"Lollollop?" asked Max, and laughed.

"What?"

"It's from the book I'm reading - Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. That's apparently a word in pigeon."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

The pigeon flew away.

*

In a tree, the pigeon landed.

"Lollollop? Seriously? I'm a _pigeon_!"

End chapter 2.

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**If you're confused by this being chapter two, notice that it's part of a different 'part' of the story. The ??? part of the story are my little 'break' chapters.**

**Monstrous Regiment is a pretty good book.**


	7. 1:5: What, AGAIN?

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Five:

What, AGAIN?

**Heh, pigeons... I like pigeons. Seen my profile pic?**

"Hey, Kitty."

"Hey Max. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just saying hi. Do you think we're gonna get another Danger Room section after the, uh, fiasco?"

She grinned at the mention of the incident's new nickname. "Probably. That was mostly Wolverine's fault."

"Why? I mean, why would he do that?"

"That's just the way he is: not particularly inclined to be kind to any, except maybe Rogue."

"Why does he only like her?"

"He brought her in, but I don't really know beyond that."

"Oh, well. I'll see what I can find out."

***

Later that day.

"As it turns out, we are doing another Danger Room session."

"Maybe this time it'll be with one of the not-so-mean teachers?" said Kitty hopefully.

"Looks like it's Ororo. But I think the groups have been mixed up. Exhibit A: hey Piotr!" Max waved to the tall Russian.

"Hello, Max. What did you need?"

"Just saying that they've mixed up the groups that were in the Danger Room."

"It would appear so."

*

Skip.

*

"You know, you'd think the saws would be level one," gasped Max as he dodged another blast from the cannons. This time around, the Danger Room was set at a lower level, but was still providing the students with a challenge. "But no, it's the _cannons_. The one thing I'm completely powerless against. Bullets, yes, saws, yes, even the crushing walls, yes, but it's laser cannons!" He leapt and rolled to avoid a wide green beam. "And I'm pretty sure they're mocking us, changing colors like that."

Kitty was listening with half an ear as she climbed up the inside of the wall towards one of the cannons.

"Could you _try_ to help in some way other than being a distraction?" called Cobalt. He, too, was dodging lasers, but instead of meandering around (if you can meander while under fire), he was building up speed towards one of the cannons.

Before it had a chance to fire, he was running up the wall towards it.

Grab, flip, punch until it breaks.

A simple method, but it works.

Humming 'another one bites the dust' to himself, Max dodged the slightly lessened laser fire. Just have to time it right...

He flung his arm upwards. Across the room, Colossus was flung towards one of the cannons, grabbing it with enough speed to rip it off the wall. Needless to say, it ceased firing. He threw it at another, then landed with a thud.

The students were doing better this time - more of the kids had survived this far, and less of the weapons.

Kitty popped out of the wall and into a cannon. Moments later, it began to shake, and then stopped moving, but continued firing. In a straight line. Kitty fell out of it, holding a clump of wires. "That was fun."

Cobalt backflipped out of the way of a burst of fire from all three of the remaining cannons, landing near Max.

"Why can you do stuff like that?"

"What, the running up walls?"

"Sure, but I was mostly asking about the backflipping and whatnot." **(I love the word whatnot...)**

"Oh, I'm just good at that stuff. Flips are fun, and pretty easy."

Max paused (the conversation, not the fighting) and then said, "what about the running up walls?"

"I can make myself lighter. I think it's the same way a submarine does - changing the air levels in ballast tanks. Not exactly sure where I've got a ballast tank, though, not something you'd normally find in someone..."

One student shot a plasma blast out of his hand towards a cannon, which ceased firing, now missing a sizeable chunk of the barrel, with the rest partially melted. "And then there were two," crowed the boy, before being hit in the back by one of said two cannons. He vanished.

Kitty ran towards Colossus, jumped, kicked off his shoulders, and did a half-somersault into a cannon. It, too, ceased moving but continued to fire. "Don't mess with a formula that works," she murmured as she dropped out of the cannon, holding an identical bunch of wires.

Another student, ignored by the last cannon, stared at the cannons Kitty had disabled, and then glared at the last remaining cannon. It sparked, then froze. She held out her hand, and a third clump of wires appeared in it. Max watched and nodded with approval. "Probably teleportation. Good use of your powers!" The last bit was yelled towards the girl, who blushed and shyly ducked her head.

"I agree," said Ororo's voice, as the still-firing but frozen guns ceased, and began to vanish. **(I image it being like in Code Lyoko, when the people get hit. Grid, pieces falling out...)**

"You kids did a good job in the Danger Room today. Some of you still need to work on surviving," a wry tone entering her voice. The students in the room of the 'dead' could hear her and looked at each other, then looked away, in the same manner as a class being admonished by a teacher. Who, us? "But overall, you did pretty well. Good job in there."

End chapter five.

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**Well, that was fun. The benefits of some pretty advanced technology - I think the Danger Room in here uses solid light holograms for all this stuff...**


	8. 1:6: Normalcy

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Six:

Normalcy

**As always, R&R (for FF.N newbs, that's Read and Review). Check out the site for this from my profile (it's the poll that's obviously **_**not**_** blatant advertising. Yeesh.), I just redid the reading for fancilyness. Enjoy the results of my OCD.**

**Slow chapter...**

//Max1x10^6: Everything's fine here. How's it at the home front?

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Fine, too. How's school going?

//Max1x10^6: Pretty good. At some point you'll have to meet Cobalt.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Cobalt?

//Max1x10^6: It's what his parents named him.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Wow.

//Max1x10^6: Yup.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Everything else is good, then?

//Max1x10^6: Yeah, we're doing fine. PE's way better than at home... More fun.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: ?

//Max1x10^6: You probably don't want to know.

//Max1x10^6: I can see if I've got a pic of Cobalt if you want.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Okay.

//Max1x10^6: Hmm...

\\ Max1x10^6 has started a file transfer of: .

\\ Accept file? Y/N

//TheBeagleHasLanded[Hidden]: Y

\\ Downloading...

//TheBeagleHasLanded: He looks pretty nice.

//Max1x10^6: He's pretty cool.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Sorry I can't talk on the phone, but I'm trying to look like I'm working. :)

//Max1x10^6: It's fine. I know how your job gets sometimes.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Well, here comes the Press. And I already used my 'stop the press!' card for this week...

//Max1x10^6: Ok. Love you! Bye.

//TheBeagleHasLanded: Bye, Max.

"What'cha doin'?" Cobalt asked, leaning over Max's shoulder to look at the screen. Max shoved him back.

"No looking over my shoulder! A, I hate when people do that, and B, this is private."

"Okay, sorry."

***

"In subject A's DNA, you can see here where the X gene has changed it compared to subject B."

Max sat in the middle of the classroom, watching the projector screen attentively. Cobalt was two seats behind and one to the right of him, also watching. Near the back of the room, Damon was slouching down in his seat, glaring at his desk. Beside him, Andrew was whispering at him, trying to get him to pay attention. "This is review for the test _tomorrow_, and you haven't paid any attention in this class, _ever_. You should pay attention, or you're gonna fail!"

Damon looked as if he was going to argue, then gave up. "Fine." He switched from glaring at his desk to glaring at the screen. Andrew sighed.

Kitty sat at the front of the classroom, absentmindedly doodling on a paper as she watched the lesson.

"As you can see, the X gene definitely changes DNA in ways we don't yet entirely understand. Research into what, exactly, it does, is ongoing, but- yes, in the back?"

Damon had raised his hand.

"Isn't it kinda obvious what it does, I mean, I could probably stop time by singing a certain popular song **(Tik Tok by Ke$ha. How the heck do you pronounce Ke-dollar sign-ha?)**."

"Well, those aspects of the X genome are very obvious, but how the powers work, that we don't know. We're trying to figure it out now; in fact I'm one of the foremost researchers in the field," said Dr. Hank McCoy.

"Well then, shouldn't you be in a lab somewhere figuring this out?"

"I think that teaching the next generation of Americans, and the next generation of mutants, is very important too."

Max spoke up now.

"Well, seeing the stuff you do in the news, you've always appeared to be more research-oriented."

"That's true, very true. In fact, I'll admit that I'm here as a sub because my lab is running tests on 'auto' for now."

"What is your opinion on the 'search for the cure' that many political pundits are supporting at this point?"

Storm, having just entered the room, spoke now. "There is no cure, and there can be no cure. You _cure_ a disease. Mutants are not a disease. All the research funding and efforts searching for a 'cure' for the X gene should be searching for something better, like a cure for cancer."

"I completely agree," said Max.

"Then why bring it up?" Storm seemed slightly angry; she was vehemently against any suggestion of a 'cure' for the X genome.

"Because I was wondering what the good doctor's opinion was."

"And my opinion is that we should get back to the lesson," said the aforementioned doctor. The class laughed. A boy near the front of the classroom who had earned the reputation of being a class clown, and had had many verbal spars with teachers before, laughed. "Teacher made a funny!" **(Exact quote of a class clown I knew in... seventh grade?)**

The bell rang.

On to the next class.

End chapter six.

**Yup, a slow chapter. But I think I'll have next one be more exciting... if I can figure out how to work that into the storyline...**

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	9. 0:4: Excuses

The Infinity Saga

Part ???:

Break Time!

Chapter Four:

In Which I Have An Excuse

**Seriously, I'm sorry for missing the last update, and the next one. I've got a few excuses.**

**Family issues with people having kids and not having kids when they were scheduled to get some new ones.**

**Computer issues, I'm getting a new one, and need to work with the old one first...**

**Being without internet except for Wednesday, when I'm posting this excuse.**

**Oh, and I know these are out of order. I just skipped my other pre-prepared filler, because I'd rather have it for later. :P**

End chapter 4.

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**  
**


	10. 0:5: Easter Bunny!

The Infinity Saga

Part ???:

Break Time!

Chapter Five:

In Which A Bunny Attacks

**Happy Easter everyone!**

_Clank._

_Poing._

_Clank._

_Poing._

_Clank._

_Whirrr...._

_Clank clank rattle._

_Ca-CHUNK._

***

"I didn't think we'd have an easter egg hunt."

"Well, it's an excuse for a break, AND a lot of candy. There really isn't any way to avoid it, especially when the younger kids with less control will be fighting hardest for it."

"Valid point."

There was a sudden scream.

"What was that?" said Andrew and Devlin at the same time. They both turned and ran towards the source.

They found a strange scene: a fallen and flaming tree blocking the school's main driveway, and what appeared to be a robotic bunny engaged in a spirited battle with another (this one biological) rabbit.

"What the FRACK?" **(I say this, and I figure other people can too.)**

The rabbit and the robot continued on towards the garage.

"I feel like we should do something, but I have no idea what," said Devlin, "although I think it might be laughing at the sheer randomness of this situation."

"Who're you voting for?"

"The real rabbit. The robot's too... generic evil. I mean, every bad guy eventually tries robotic versions of his nemisis, but they never work. Which raises the question: who is the rabbit's nemesis?"

The battle of the bunnies was now in a small ornamental garden, which was rapidly becoming simply a small. The rabbit was dodging the varied attacks of the robot, including a small missile.

"See, that looks like a 'low on health' boss attack, so I'd say that the rabbit has just about won, and the robot's going down."

"Are you comparing this to a video game?"

"Maybe."

There was a small sound, but it occurred during the moment between weapons, and seemed much louder than it was:

_Ca-CLICK._

The rabbit leapt towards the robot. Unable to activate any of it's absurd unfolding weapons, it was forced to fight paw-to-paw with the rabbit. They rolled on the ground, the dense robot using it's weight to it's advantage, the lithe rabbit avoiding any attacks.

Then, suddenly, the robot was still, and the rabbit clambered atop it.

"Finish him!" murmured Devlin.

The rabbit jumped into the air, and came down on the robot's neck with what neither Andrew nor Devlin had noticed before: a switchblade. This hit the robot's neck, and with a final-sounding generic sound effect, beheaded it.

"That was a pretty awesome easter fight. I am very happy now. So I'm going to go eat enough candy that I'll levitate for a bit, and then fall asleep for a week."

"Sounds like a plan!"

End chapter 5.

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**Happy easter everyone! (again)**

**And this is a pretty blatant homage to Sluggy Freelance, at least for people who've read it.**

**Yeah, these chapters got all out of order. Eventually they should get back to normal, but this is what happens when I do special occasion chapters...**

**But, whatever, happy Easter. Normal programming resumes next week.**


	11. 1:7: Flight

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Seven:

Flight

**Oh, sorry I missed the last couple updates. Vacation and then being computer-less...**

**Still working on how the plot's going to actually **_**go**_** in my head...**

**BTW, bonus points for figuring out what the chat name thing whatevers are from. Or mean. Or whatever.**

**Oh, sorry I missed last update. No internets. So I'm making up for it with this really long chapter.**

6:43 AM

//WhyNot4: So you're good at school?

//FeatherDuster: Yeah, it's all good.

6:45 AM

//WhyNot4: Chat's an interesting way to keep in touch. What's up with your username?

//FeatherDuster: What's up with yours?

//WhyNot4: Touche.

//FeatherDuster: Better than some. Max's is "Max1x10^6"

//WhyNot4: ...

6:46 AM

//FeatherDuster: FYI his full name is Maximillion.

//WhyNot4: Nice.

6:48 AM

//FeatherDuster: How's mom?

//WhyNot4: She's good. I thought she called you?

//FeatherDuster: She did, but I want your input too.

//WhyNot4: You're very cynical.

//FeatherDuster: Yup.

6:50 AM

//WhyNot4: Well, we both need sleep, so good night.

//FeatherDuster: It's morning.

//WhyNot4: Shush with your logic. I know best.

//FeatherDuster: Whatever. 'Good night.'

//WhyNot4: ...

#WhyNot4 has logged off.

6:51 AM

#FeatherDuster has logged off.

"Weekend weekend, glorious weekend!"

"Shouldn't you, you know, _not_ be singing, if it can, like, make stuff explode?"

"Yeah, I'm a priority case and they're teaching me stuff like how to not blow stuff up."

"That _is_ a good thing to know."

"Next up is how to blow stuff up on command."

"Seriously?"

"You won't know."

"Now I'm going to make it a life goal of mine to keep track of what you're doing."

"That's... really creepy and stalkerish."

"Valid point."

"Hey guys!" Cobalt yelled.

"How's your weekend going?" asked Max, more subtly inserting himself into their conversation. **Keh, weird terminology and stuff...**

"Pretty good," said Damon, back to his normal, sober self.

"'Glorious,'" replied Andrew, a wicked glint in his eye.

"Stop making fun of me."

"I would _never_ make fun of you!"

"There you go doing it again."

"Shush you with your logic," interjected Cobalt.

"Nice phrase," said Max.

"Yeah, I got it from my dad."

"You make it sound like a genetic disorder."

"Are you guys all having an awesome weekend?" asked Kitty.

There was a chorus of agreements, and one dour comment from Damon: "this conversation is going in loops..."

"Got any plans for the free time?"

"I'm going to work on my accuracy in throwing pencils at stuff with my brain."

"What?"

"Have you ever tried throwing a pencil while only touching the metallic parts of it?"

"No..."

"Well, it takes concentration, and I'm not very accurate at it. So I'm going to practice."

"And why will you need to accurately throw a pencil at someone?"

"You'll never know when something like that may come in handy." **Now, if I was going to be generic, I'd have to find some way to work this being used to save the day into this chapter. I can't think of any way how, though, so I'm going to mess with people.**

"Okay then. I'm going to work on flying."

"That sounds ridiculously fun," said Kitty.

"Not really. Flying is fun, but I'm not actually all that good at the whole taking off bit. Or landing bit. Or those bits in between. I can glide really well, though!"

"Is it a matter of practicing?"

"It's a few reasons that I'm not all that great: one, I don't exactly get to practice a lot; two, I don't have a whole lot of muscle built up for that; and three, my wingspan."

"Wingspan?" This was Andrew, now paying attention to this conversation after finishing a side discussion with Damon.

"Yeah. My dad and I figured some stuff out, and relatively, it's like trying to get an eagle to fly with a pigeon's wings. Not done growing or something."

"Oh. What is your wingspan, then?" asked Damon, now curious.

"I dunno. Around eight feet, last time I checked. But that was a while ago."

"We should measure!"

"That could be taken badly out of context," said Damon.

"You have a dirty mind," replied Kitty, glaring.

"I'm just saying!"

"What you should've said is 'I blame all these hormones. I'm a teenager you know!'" Max concluded his statement with a roll of his eyes, projecting the image of a stereotypical teenager, despite his diplomatic intent. **Bonus points if you only had to read through that once! It took me three tries.**

"But still, we should see what your wingspan is."

"Uh, no."

"Why not?"

"I dunno, it'd just seem... weird."

"_Fine_," complied Andrew, with a defeated sigh.

The conversation continued on random subjects for around ten minutes, and the motion of people within the group could've been used for a demonstration in a lecture about Brownian motion. After a while, though, they split apart to go to their individual activities.

Off one side of the school, there was a forest. It was not part of the school proper, but it was owned by Professor Xavier. Students were allowed to go into the forest during their free time, although the fact was not advertised by the school's staff.

Cobalt was in the forest now. Specifically, he was standing in front of a tree. He knelt down, and then jumped vertically. He went up and up, far further than is normally possible. At the apogee of his leap, he grabbed a branch, and used that to pull himself up further with an ease that would shame an Olympic gymnast. He rose through the tree rapidly.

Nearing the top, he stopped, and clambered around until he was sitting on a branch. He took off his shirt, and spread his wings.

Each was, as could be gathered from his statement of his wingspan earlier, around four or five feet long. They were a light brown color, a bit darker than his blond hair, and speckled with white.

He braced himself against the branch - and dove out of the tree in what a swim teacher would call a flawless sitting dive. **I'm using more metaphor than usual, aren't I?**

A breath, two, in the air, and he began to fall, but still more slowly than you would expect. Then he flapped his wings, once, twice, and began to rise. A look of fierce concentration and effort, along with a drop of sweat, was on his face.

He flew.

Really, it was more of a glide, as he flapped infrequently, and dodged the infrequent (in this area of the forest) trees by leaning one way or another.

Moving quickly, he was hard to see, the lighter brown blending with the background of the forest oddly well, only the occasional flash of light through the leaves here, a blink of blue denim there giving him away.

A short time later, although it seemed longer, he came to what was, on the ground, a clearing. In the air, it was simply an area where more sun shone through the lessened canopy of foliage.

Wings laboring now, he rose through the opening in the tree cover, and flew low over the tops of the trees. He reveled in the feeling of air rushing past, the sunlight on his skin, the greenery flashing by below him, although you'd be hard-pressed to tell from the expression on his face.

Eventually, though, it had to end.

He dropped back into the forest through another opening in the treetops nearly an hour after he had started.

Flying, he had started out clumsy, but as he had continued, his movements had become more natural, more fluid. Not so with landing; instead of setting down, he ungracefully hit the ground with wings out, acting as air brakes, and stumbled a few steps before stopping.

He sat down, breathing hard, sweat running down his forehead. His blue eyes stared, unseeing, up into the foliage, deep contemplation showing on his face. Eventually, he woke from his trance, and stood. He turned towards the school and began to walk back.

At the edge of the forest, he glanced over his shoulder at one of his wings, regret on his face, before pulling his shirt on, covering them. He walked back into the school.

End chapter 7.

**I'm really glad to have written that. It was way more poetic-ish than my usual writing, but the whole flying things is the human dream (see chapter three) and whatever, so I kinda worked this out in my head beforehand.**

**Sorry I missed last update, no interwebs while on vacation, but lots of riding in a car. Stupid laptop needs a new battery, though, so I couldn't even do any writing. Also, Google Docs doesn't have offline anymore.**

**I'm not doing the ads here anymore, because they were annoying, and probably going to get me reported eventually... But I'm not getting rid of the old ones. And I still think people should go to that site I set up. It's a slightly better reading format. And I'm going to put up character bios soon. Maybe. I hope.**


	12. 1:8: Family Ties

The Infinity Saga

Part One:

X-Men

Chapter Eight:

Family Ties

**Let's explore the families of people! It's time to pry into the fictional private lives of fictional characters! Yay!**

8:22 PM

//Lightbulb: Why do I even bother talking to you anymore?

//xxAntiMatterxx: I still say you shouldn't have gone to that school. It's full of freaks.

#xxAntiMatterxx has logged off.

//Lightbulb: I hate you.

8:33 PM

#DemonSong has logged on.

#DemonSong has invited you to chat.

#You and DemonSong are now in a private chat room.

//DemonSong: You seem angry.

//Lightbulb: You could just, you know, talk to me.

//DemonSong: But then you can use voice expressions and stuff.

//Lightbulb: You're an idiot.

//DemonSong: You're just in a bad mood.

//DemonSong: Why?

//Lightbulb: None of your business.

//DemonSong: You know I'll get it out of you eventually.

//DemonSong: Just tell me now, and save us both some time and effort.

8:45 PM

//Lightbulb: Family stuff.

//DemonSong: ?

//Lightbulb: Deadbeat dad.

//DemonSong: I'm sorry.

//Lightbulb: Don't be.

//DemonSong: I think I'm supposed to be spouting some stupid stuff about anger issues and whatever, but I really can't bring myself to do it. Fear of being electrocuted.

//Lightbulb: Whatever.

//Lightbulb: Actually, thanks.

//Lightbulb: TTYL

#Lightbulb has logged off.

#DemonSong has logged off.

There was a field trip to a nearby museum the next day. Half the school was going that day, and half the next. Max and Cobalt were in the first group. Kitty, Andrew, and Damon were in the second.

The trip was uneventful for Max and Cobalt, who both reported that it was interesting (although possibly a bit boring).

"Got your lunch and stuff?"

"I'm not stupid."

"Sorry, I always assume people are. It's safer," said Damon cynically.

The bus ride wasn't too long. At the museum, the students were free to go wherever they liked inside - few were stupid enough to try anything with a telepathic teacher around.

Three silent halls of exhibits on (randomly) Mediterranean history later, Damon and Andrew were sitting on the ground talking.

"Well I think that-" began Damon, before stopping and raising his hand, a look of concentration on his face.

"Wha-" said Andrew, and was cut off by a fierce shushing out of his normally quiet friend.

Then he heard it.

A quiet ticking.

_Tick tick tick tick_

They stood up.

_Tick tick tick tick_

They began to walk away from the wall they had been sitting against.

_ Tick tick tickticktick_

They began to run.

_Ticktickticktick-_

They were now sprinting full-out down the hallway when the wall exploded. Rubble from the concrete wall flew everywhere as dust clouded the hallway. A dark figure, rather than ominously standing silhouetted in the light shining vaguely through the new gap, skittered in around the edge. A second figure, however, larger and with a slightly inorganic shape, did stand in the doorway, before a bolt of lightning blasted it back out through the hole. A parting gift from Andrew as he and Damon fled out of the ravaged hall.

In the main lobby of the museum, Jean Gray collapsed to the ground, hands held to her head, as did another telepath, this one a student, in one of the galleries. Both heard what no others could - a telepathic jammer, generating white 'noise.'

Andrew and Damon fled down yet another hall, heading deeper into the museum. An alarm was blaring throughout the building, and in some galleries, those with more valuable artifacts in them, reinforced blast doors closed.

"This better not be what I think it is," growled Andrew.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's just, oh I dunno, KEEP RUNNING"

The dark shape skittered after them unseen. Staying in the shadows, few details were revealed. Again acting against the ways of the other, the larger one simply walked down the hall, ignoring anything else - this included exhibits, anything done by either the fleeing students or the museum's security systems, and any blast doors that may have been in it's way.

"Who is it?" whispered Andrew as both of the attackers went past, not noticing the two hidden in a dark alcove.

"The smaller one stays in the shadows obsessively, I can't see anything. The bigger one looks like some kinda cyborg, or maybe Iron Man gone bad..."

"Let's hope it's that first one. I don't know if anyone here could take on Iron Man."

The shadows rippled, and then Andrew yelped as the smaller of the invaders appeared, grabbed him, and started to drag him backwards. It wasn't teleportation - he was appearing out of a shadow, it looked as if he was leaning into it from somewhere else. Damon grabbed Andrew to stop the figure from vanishing with him. Almost generically, he started to slip, pulled backwards by the shadow-walker, who had more strength than his size would suggest.

"_Hang on/Help is on it's way_" **{1} **sang Damon. This didn't have quite the intended effect - he found himself bound to Andrew, but was rapidly dragged through the shadows with him.

Darkness

Void

Nothingness

Silence

And then they fell out of the shadows again. The shadows rippled oddly, then settled. Andrew, Damon, and the shadow-walker were frozen, but the cyborg was not. He quickly put cuffs on Andrew, grabbed him and his partner, blasted a way out, and then jumped from the second floor of the museum and then out.

At the bottom, he fled towards what must have been a getaway vehicle - it was the only large armored vehicle around.

_Thunk._

The cyborg stopped, turned, looked at his feet. There was a pencil on the ground. He looked up - then roared in pain when another hit him in the eye. It was a generic red robotic eye, but was not very strong - the pencil embedded itself inside it. The cyborg dropped his charges, pulled the pencil out of his eye, and charged towards Max, who was glaring at him, pencils in a random orbit over a raised hand.

"Practice makes perfect. I practiced this trick a lot."

Three more pencils shot towards the cyborg. Two shattered - one on his chestplate, the other on a knee - but the third stabbed into his left ankle. A servo screamed, and the 'borg collapsed.

"You have a lot of metal on you. Don't bother trying to get up," cooly said Max, not ten feet away from where the cyborg had been halted. He was angry, but Max wasn't one for outbursts - he was more the cold rage kind of person.

At his feet, his shadow boiled. Then he dropped through, before being caught by Cobalt.

Max waved a hand from behind him towards the shadow walker, and was rewarded when one of the pencils left behind flew, hitting his target with the eraser end hard enough to put him out for the count. Cobalt pulled him back out of the shadows, which apparently wouldn't close with someone in transit. Lightning crawled over the parts of him that had been in the shadows, then faded.

They both paused for a moment. Then Cobalt shoved Max down as he leapt up, and then apparently stopped in midair. There was a sound, somewhat like '_fwooosh_' or possibly '_fwooom_' and a jet of flame cut in between them.

Cobalt dropped on the cyborg's chest plate. Surprisingly, it crumpled, as if something heavier had been dropped on it.

Max stood up after the jet of flame had stopped. Using both hands, he managed to lift the armored vehicle. Quickly, he spun. Seeing the rapidly approaching truck, Cobalt jumped, landed atop the vehicle, and jumped again, landing lightly ten feet away. Unceremoniously, Max dropped it on the cyborg.

Minutes later, soldier with S.H.I.E.L.D. emblazoned on his armor dropped from a helicopter. Putting what looked like a steel version of an Egyptian ceremonial necklace (which is to say it was very large) on the shadow-walker, and something that looked like a mix of a tripod and a harpoon on the cyborg, he then spoke into his radio. Both devices lit up, and an indicator went from red to yellow to green. A larger helicopter moved in and didn't quite land on the museum's parking lot. More soldiers rushed out, carried the two attackers into the helicopter, and left with the transport copter.

"What was that about? It kinda looks like they were after you, Andrew. I mean, the guy trying to kidnap you was also a really good hint towards that."

"My dad. He hates mutants. He thinks I shouldn't be here. He probably hired these idiots to bring me back to him."

"That... Royally sucks."

"Ya think? I don't really want to talk about it." Andrew walked back into the museum, scowling.

"He'll open up about it eventually."

"You seem unusually optimistic."

"Oh, sorry. 'We'll all die eventually.' Happy?"

"Not really, no."

"Close enough."

**{1} Little River Band - Help Is On It's Way**

**Review review. I feel like a gossip... y... person... whatever. You know what I mean.**


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